June 4, 2014

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held captive by the Taliban for five years, has been freed in exchange for the release of five detainees from the Guantánamo Bay prison. Since the news broke, celebration has given way to controversy over the soldier’s record and the terms of his release.

President Obama gave the news the full Rose Garden treatment, appearing alongside Bergdahl’s parents in a widely publicized address. After he hugged the President, Robert Bergdahl addressed his son in Arabic and Pashtu, and used a phrase which translates to “in the name of Allah, the most merciful.” Mr. Bergdahl has come under fire in the past for tweeting “God will repay for the death of every Afghan child, ameen.”

As a further complicating issue, it seems Sgt. Bergdahl himself may not have been a model soldier. . . .

However shady this whole affair may be, one can’t help but be glad that this young man is reunited with his family. And we at AI feel little desire to judge the actions of a troubled young man facing combat; nor do we think parents should be harshly condemned for every remark made while living with their loved ones in the shadow of war. But it was the White House that politicized this family and brought them under a spotlight better left unlit. Rather than let Sgt. Bergdahl quietly return home, the White House turned the klieg lights on the Bergdahl family, and left them blinking in a glare that did not serve them well.

Whatever else this episode may be, it is not a clear win for the United States or for the increasingly rattled and off-balance Obama Administration. Nor will it endear the President to veterans who are disgruntled about the ongoing scandal of VA fraud and incompetence.

The utterly counterproductive and inappropriate rollout of the news indicates that somebody in the President’s circle has at least temporarily lost his or her grip on reality. How a competent professional could have thought this story was the kind of big win to put on center stage escapes us. The President would be wise to ask whether some of his political operatives are losing their edge; his enemies create enough trouble for him without his friends getting involved.

If you visualize the White House as having temporarily been handed over to a group of graduate students from a university's political science department all of whom are being led by an arrogant mediocre adjunct professor with no experience of management, discipline, or debate you can understand how every situation is being handled. No mystery here.

This traitor cost the lives of at least 6 men - wishing him well and wanting him to return to his family is the LAST thing I would think the majority of the country wants at this moment.

Furthermore, they had one of the soldiers that was in his unit on the news this morning describing how immediately after he deserted, they caught radio traffic of an American wanting to find an English speaking Taliban - and then the IED attacks started becoming bizarrely accurate with no other explanation than that he was assisting the enemy.

I've no doubt those IED attacks cost American lives or at least massive injuries. On that count alone, if convicted, he should be executed.

I just can't help remembering all the men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan coming home to nothing beyond the thanks of their family and friends...and then there's President Obama hosting and honoring Bergdahl's parents at the White House when he knew all along their son was a deserter.

If, as seems to be the case, Bergdahl deserted, his behavior was dishonorable. Honor generally, and particularly the military brand of honor, are beyond the ken of Obama administration aparatchiks. They do not understand the concept, and thus they do not take it seriously. As to this aspect of American culture, they may as well be Martians

Obama tried to satisfy his left with the release of Guantanamo detainees. He tried to outflank the right by securing the release of Pvt. Berghdal. The background and I think his main objective which he hoped would serve him going forward was to demonstrate how he is ill served by allowing the law to shackle his brilliance and wonderful motives.

One of these days I will stop being amazed at the tone-deafness of this administration. How could they have possibly thought that this would look like a great victory for them? Completely dumbfounded. Even by Obama's (lack of) standards, this is amazing.

A 2-year possible nightmare for Obama?Here's a question:The Army Command Authority discovers that it actually has 'attachments' and charges Bergdahl with Desertion in the Face of the Enemy - a Capital Offense;knowing that if they don't, they face a drastic diminution of good-order and discipline within the Ranks, and Officer Corps.He's convicted and sentenced to Death.Would anyone below the rank of Commander In Chief dare to change the sentence?Would Obama?

The Obama White House doesn't seem to have anyone competent enough to figure out that maybe putting the Bergdahl's bearded father on TV from the Rose Garden might go bad. Then they doubled down on stupid by sending Susan Rice out on the Sunday news shows to argue their case. Was Baghdad Bob unavailable?

Perhaps WRM would be so kind as to comment (or write in his next column) about the commentary his latest piece has received here. It seems that indeed, a number of Americans are NOT happy that Sgt. Bergdahl was brought home, NOT happy that at least SIX other American soldiers died in the hunt for the man, and NOT happy with the fact that Sgt. Bergdahl apparently (I use that work the same way a newspaper does) deserted, as opposed to being captured.

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